LETTERS: Climate change poses real threat to humanity

Monday, February 18, 2019 19:58

By HARRISON MWIRIGI IKUNDA

Illustration on the effects of climate change. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Despite denials by powerful individuals, officials, politicians, organisations and some interests groups climate change is real. Evidence is all over the world and Kenya is already suffering frequencies of adverse weather patterns that include drought that indicate consequences of this global phenomenon.

Gone are the days that Kenya would enjoy sufficiency in rainfall for many years following one another. This is not only a Kenyan problem as several countries in the region that include Somalia, Sudan and other countries in the horn of Africa have had enough share of very dry periods for the last couple of years.

But even away from Africa numerous countries that include Australia, UK, Canada, US, India, Japan, and WE have had some severe heat waves of higher proportions which at times seems abnormal. Moreover, enormous floods have been seen in various parts of the world for a couple of years now.

Perhaps naysayers feel that some of extreme weather patterns are normal course of changes in weather patterns globally that have nothing to do with fundamental changes that should alarm humanity. At any rate weather patterns for many years have had movements from one extreme to another observed over a period of time. But now one has to look at the frequency, the intensity and new developments on the earth surface to see there are fundamental shifts in global weather patterns, suffice is to say that the new normal has too many extremes and growing in intensity as time goes by. Studied carefully our industrial revolution having brought a lot of changes of importance and good to humanity have also had side effects over time as we changed technology and in patterns of settlements.

Today pollution in cities and urban settlements and on our transport systems have had impacts on health and adverse effects in terms of the extent of carbon emissions in the air which brings other effects to the earth surface or global atmosphere. This is just a simplistic illustration without delving towards the proven scientific observations of the atmosphere and impacts seen globally in many spheres of life.

Despite powerful denials especially coming from the leader of the democratic world embodied in the leadership of Trump administration the evidence to contrary is even proven in the country of US.

Obviously living in a complex world of commerce, industry, lobby groups and all manner of interest groups it is not easy to resist the pressure to fall into denial. The reality is there are segments of societies suffering effects of climate change especially in some migrant or nomadic communities in parts of the world as they normally tend to occupy drier parts which are frequently prone to droughts and even flooding.

When the intensity is too much their livelihoods are impaired leading to hunger and insecurity as they try to find new areas of settlements. Even the very settled agricultural communities are not spared as inadequacy of rainfall and emergent growths in pests attacks and crop diseases do not spare them. In effect more areas in the globe are becoming nutritional deficient. Malnutrition necessarily becomes a challenge as agriculture is severely affected and so are settlement patterns.

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The diseases outbreaks which result in some of these weather patterns and more so with increased pollution as well means we have more resources that have to be allocated to solving the challenges. This necessarily means more stress to governments and individual family units who have to worry more on these particular budgetary needs. This then hampers development at country and household levels as ill health has negative impacts on all other areas and it does not wait for others to be taken care of as it can mean instant disaster.

Thus denials or not, this phenomenon has to be approached in a multifaceted fashion for the purposes of mitigation, adaptation, reduction and halting the growth. That it is why advocacy for green/clean energy is paramount as is finding use of some of the polluting elements such as waste from households, farms, factories, cities and others.

Waste management with intent to make them reusable in terms of new products or to produce energy is part of the matrix to not only address energy demands but also to reduce pollution and mitigation strategies against global climate world a better place.